Amazon wouldn’t be the e-commerce giant it is today without its warehouses. These are the physical locations where core parts of the product storage and shipping process happen, and some of them are working around the clock to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Amazon Australia warehouse locations are a world of their own, with their own rules, ways of working, and hundreds of people moving around every day. It may sound chaotic, but there is an order to this whole universe, and knowing it will help you understand more about how Amazon works in general.
In this article, we will tell you more about the warehouses found in Australia, their uses, their different job opportunities, and additional fees that may be attributed to them.
Overview of Amazon Australia’s warehouse locations
When Amazon arrived in the country, it had in mind to expand as quickly as possible. It first landed in the big cities, but quickly started to set up its warehouses in other strategic areas.
Currently, you can find more than 10 Amazon Australia warehouse locations, in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Wellington, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, and Perth. These warehouses are joined by different locations such as corporate offices and headquarters in customs areas.
These warehouses are the places where the products that are sold and bought on Amazon Australia are stored. In the case of the Sydney, Auckland, and Melbourne locations, they also store for a shorter period of time the products that arrive through Amazon Global (international shipments).
You may be wondering how Amazon chooses where to locate a warehouse, and that is something that can vary but there are some determining factors. First, that the price is affordable, and that land large enough to locate the warehouses can be obtained. Also, we are looking for peri-urban areas, so that it is not the chaos of the city but is close to customers (lowering shipping costs) and potential workers (so that the commute is shorter).
Selling fees for Australian sellers
Being a seller on Amazon is a quick way to gain more exposure and enter a market that millions of people pass through every month. However, you should understand Amazon selling fees in Australia before you venture in, to make sure it is the most profitable option for your business.
Fixed Amazon selling fees are approximately 15% of the value of the product when it is sold. To give you an idea, if you sell a product for $100 Amazon will discount you $15. These fees are made up of fulfillment fees and inventory storage fees, although there may be changes in some of them.
Inventory storage fees are the trickiest, and are related to the amount of time your products spend in Amazon Australia warehouse locations. Eventually, this causes that when a product is stored for a long time, sellers set up promotions or large discounts to complete its sale, so they stop taking up space and having to pay additional storage fees.
So if you are an entrepreneur or just starting your business, we recommend that you evaluate whether your earnings will be high enough so that the cost of fees will not affect you.
For those who have a traditional physical business, or a company that is already established in the market, we advise you to take the plunge and become a seller on the platform.
Working at Amazon warehouses in Australia
As a constantly growing company, and warehouses are the most crowded places for employees, new job offers are constantly opening up for you to apply for. Some require you to have previous experience, while in others this is not necessary and any adult with permission to work in Australia is welcome.
It is estimated that the monthly salary of workers at Amazon warehouses in Australia locations is $30,000 to $45,000 per year depending on the type of work they do, and their seniority in this company. Various bonuses and benefits are also added that can make the final number higher.
Amazon Australia is forced to comply with national work regulations, so everyone is paid more than AUD $24.10 per hour. In large cities, the hourly wage for warehouse employees starts at AUD $28.
Amazon warehouses are dynamic and constantly changing workplaces. We can assure you that there will never be a boring or slow day, as there is always something to do. However, tasks are limited and you will be trained for certain jobs, so you cannot be asked to do the work of your colleagues.
Those who do jobs that involve loading and unloading products will be entitled to receive additional bonuses and have a different labor insurance than the rest. At Amazon warehouse Australia locations you can also do office work, contacting suppliers, filing complaints, helping customers, and much more.
Warehouse operations and their impact on overall logistics
The Amazon warehouse in Australia is not only a place where products are stored, but there are other tasks that are performed. First, the quality of the products is controlled and they comply with the legal conditions to be traded in the country (that they are not illegal products, such as weapons, drugs, etc.).
The packaging process is also completed to comply with Amazon Australia standards. Although most sellers already have some kind of packaging, the exact labels as well as the boxes and bags characteristic of the company are placed here. Then, the products are dispatched to reach their final destination.
Considering that some of the most important parts of the operational process take place in the warehouses, it is essential that they are working well. Any kind of error at this time will cause the customer to receive their products late or even not in perfect condition.
Warehouses are Amazon’s responsibility, but in most cases, sellers must bear the costs of a product being broken or lost at this location (since the customer cannot be charged for this). It could be said that warehouses are as important as the platform itself since a simple failure can harm everyone involved.
